Adjustable shoe upper



March l2, 1940. M. GILBERT ADJUSTABLE SHOE UPPER Filed June 16, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 4 m. M f Wm e Mm W y a Z A Ol w y m m uw M am. m. U W L Upper f ADJUSTABLE SHOE UPPER Filed June 16, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 3LP/lag.. /13

mvENToR. Max lGliber;

BY` QM ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. l2, 1940 [219mg i uru'rED STATES rn'rlzlrrv oFrlcE ADJUSTABLE SHOE UPPER Max Gilbert, New York, N. Y.

Application June 16, 1937, Serial No. 148,428

1 claim. (orig-'146) This invention relates toshoes and has to do more particularly with means whereby the margin of the foot opening thereof'may be adjusted to properly t the wearer. The invention is adapted for use in shoes of all kinds and for both sexes, but is particularly usefulA when embodied in ladies pumps. p

Pumps are extremely diflicult to fit to some feet and particularly to those which are inclined to be fleshy for unless a pump ts the foot properly about its upper margin, it will tend to slip off at the heel, whereas if yitts too tightly the throat of the upper tends to cut the instep and produce a very uncomfortable and unhealthy condition.

Various expediente have, been resorted to in the past to facilitate tting of-shoes, particularly over the instep and in the majority of cases it has been proposed to incorporate into thel throat of the upper yieldable or elastic means which tends to give or flex to conform to the foot of the wearenbut even with these suggested constructions there is that ever-present tendency to l cut into the foot and produce the uncomfortable condition to which I have referred.

With the foregoing considerations in mind, the primary object of this invention is to provide for adjustment of the margin of the foot opening in such manner that it may be regulated to suit` the requirements of the particular wearer and in such a way as to produce a comfortable condition and correct fit throughout the entire extent of such margin.

In carrying out this invention I object by incorporating into the upper portion of the shoe one or more adjusting cords, tapes or ribbons by which the lineal dimension of the foot opening may be contracted to (proper fit and thereafter maintained in such condition until further adjustment is desired by the wearer.

Specifically the present invention may be carried out in various ways, but, in its preferred forms, Ipreferably incorporate `one or more cords, tapes or ribbons within a binding in the margin of the foot opening and adjust the same after the manner of manipulating a drawstring to contract the whole or part of the margin of the opening until the desired adjustment is obtained and I thereupon tie such drawstring to maintain this adjustment. This form of the invention can be conveniently and economically incorporated in shoes of otherwise conventional construction and may be so embodied therein that its presence is wholly concealed when the shoe is worn, although, if desired, the ribbons, cords or tapes employed, may enter into the ornamentation of the shoe for the production of newstyles as may be desired., f

Features of the invention, other than those'.

ladverted to, will be apparent from thefherein-iisections showing the preferred manner of incorporating the invention into the shoe of Figure 1, Figure 4 being a section on the line ,r4- 4 of-Figurel. "f Figures 5-9 show another illustrative wayv of incorporating the invention into the upper of la shoe." .Y

Figures 10-13 illustrate other modified forms of the invention. 25

Referring first to 'the invention as illustrated in Figures 1-4 inclusive, l designates the upper and 2 the lining of a'shoe. As shown in Figure 1, these` parts are secured together with Athe upper edges thereof concealedby a binding 3 andi-30 within this binding is incorporated two drawstrings 4 and 5.' .-The drawstring 4 passes about the front portion of the shoe `within the bindattain `this ing and isbrought out through either metal or stitched eyelets or openings t into the interior;.35 .of the shoe,so that the free ends of the drawstring 4 are accessible las shown. The draw- -string 5 extends through the binding around the `baclroi the upper and Iis brought out'into theI interior of the shoe'through eyelets or openingswio n at any point thereof, although they maybe an- 7.45

chored intermediate their'ends at the front and back of the shoe if desired;

' The term drawstring as used herein is to be understoodl as including a ribbon, tape, cord or braid of sufficient strength to permit contractionmo of the marginof the foot opening when tension is applied thereto and' if desired that portion of the drawstringwithin the binding may be in the form of acord,rwhile the portion which extends into exposed position may be in the form of 55 ribbon or braid attached to the ends of the cord. Appropriate tips may be attached to the free ends of the drawstring to preclude fraying or unraveling thereof. The invention is not limited to the details or particular character of the drawstring as these may appreciably vary.

The drawstrings may be incorporated in the upper edge or margin of the upper in various ways, but the procedure disclosed in Figures 2 4 has been found convenient and economical. In proceeding according to this showing, the lining is placed within the upper so as to be in face abutting relation thereto as indicated in Figure 2. A binding strip 3 is also placed in face abutting relation to the upper as likewise indicated in this gure, but on the exterior surface thereof, and all three parts are thereupon united by a line of stitching 8 extending along and adjacent to the upper edge of the upper. After this has been accomplished the lining is withdrawn through the top of the upper and the binding 3 folded over the upper edge of the upper and into face abutting `relation with the lining and is i thereupon united to the lining by a line of stitchzuso rof an appropriate flexible feeding needle.

ing indicated at 5 in Figure 3.

I may, if desired, position the drawstrings in the position of Figure 3 before folding the binding 3 into engagement with the lining, but, if desired, this drawstring may be subsequently threaded into the space provided for it by means It is more economical, however, to incorporate the drawstring duringthe step of securing the binding to the lining, but in such case the eyelets or openings and l should be provided in the braid or other material which is to form the binding and the ends of the drawstrings should be passed through these eyelets before the binding is folded over in the manner shown in this figure.

After the binding has been secured to the lining with the enclosed drawstrings, as' in Figure 3, the lining is thereupon returned to its proper position within the shoe to produce the finished construction shown in Figure d, wherein `the upper edges of the upper and the lining are concealed and covered by the binding 3 which also encloses the drawstring in such manner as to permit longitudinal movement of such drawstring vwithin the space thus provided.

When a binding is applied in the manner described, it will be apparent that a portion of the -binding will be visible from the exterior of the shoe, while another portion of the binding will be visible on the inside of the shoe'. As these portions of shoes are customarily of different colors, I preferably employ for a binding of this kind a tape or braid wherein one lateral portion of the braid is of a different color than the other lateral portion. This is indicated by the surface shading shown in Figures 2 4 wherein that portion of the binding which ultimately is visible from the exterior of'the shoe is indicated as blue in color, while the portion ofthe binding which ultimately is visible from the interior of the shoe is indicated as pink. The colors referred to, however, are illustrative only and any other appropriate colors or'cornbinations' thereof may be employed without departing from this invention.

As an alternate procedure I may incorporate the drawstrings in the structure as shown in Figures 5 9. Figures 5 to 7 show substantially conventional shoernaking practice. Here a binding I is secured by a line of stitching Il to the exterior of the upper.y The exposed face of said binding may have an adhesive coating l2 thereon or an adhesive may be applied thereto after it is sewed to the shoe upper as shown in Figure 5. Thereafter the binding is folded over the top of the upper from the full line position of Figure 6 to the dotted line position of Figure 6 to produce the finished conventional French binding shown in Figure 7, wherein the portion of the binding which extends into the interior of the shoe is adhesively secured to the inner face of the upper.

After the upper has been thus bound, there is applied thereto a lining I3 of conventional form, except that there is sewed to the face of the lining, and near its upper edge by two lines of stitching I5, a strip of material Ht, in which the drawstring is enclosed. The lining, thus constructed and havingy a drawstring associated therewith as stated, is next introduced into the shoe in a conventional way to partake of the position shown in Figure 9 and the lining is sewed to the shoe upper in a conventional way.

The fraginental views of Figures 2 9 therefore disclose two illustrative ways of incorporating the drawstring into the shoe upper in such manner as to permit said drawstring to be readily placed under tension and preferably to freely slide within a sheath formed by the binding 3 or the strip il in order to obtain the desired adjustment. The drawstrings may be incorporated in the shoe of Figure 1 by following either of the foregoing illustrative, or other appropriate procedures, but irrespective as to the particular way in which the ultimate result is accomplished the shoe will he provided with two drawstrings, one of which is adapted to adjust the forward portion of the foot opening and the other of which is adapted to adjust the rear portion of such opening. If the foot opening in the top is sufiiciently large for any particular wearer, it may be adjusted by tieing the free ends of the drawstrings li and to one another at each side of the shoe, so as to exert sufcient'tension on the drawstrings to adjust the top opening of the shoe to a proper lit. e

Inasmuch as' the drawstrings are enclosed within a relatively pliable sheath, they will have a tendency to draw this sheath inwardly into proper conformity with the foot and an appreciable degree of adjustment can be obtained in this way without the necessity of actually contracting the upper margin of the shoe upper. However, if the latter is required, it can be aocomplished through the pull of the drawstrings for, under ordinary conditions, only relatively slight adjustment is necessary to change an ill fitting shoe into one which will properly fit at its upper edge.` Ordinarily relatively slight adjustment is all that is required and this adjustment can in the majority of cases be satisfactorily obtained through an inward drawing of the binding or sheath, as specified. The tension on the drawstring can be adjusted with great nicety to the wearers individual requirements and desires, so as to produce a most comfortable condition.

When the strings are tied together as stated, they may be tucked into the shoe so as to be concealed from view orrbows may be so formed as to be exposed. above the upper edge of the shoe and produce an element of design.

In Figure 1 the drawstrings are shown as adjustable at both sides of the shoe, but, if desii-ed, they may be adjustable only at one sideand the drawstring may extend continuously around the shoe with its free ends in exposed sov position at one side of the shoe only. Also the drawstring 4 may be used to the exclusion of the drawstring 5 or vice versa. One way of accomplishing this result is shown in Figure wherein the drawstring fl is provided at its free ends with hooks I6, adapted to be engaged with spaced eyelets l'l in the upper, a plurality of spaced eyelets being provided so that the hooks may be selectively engaged with such eyelets as will effect the desired adjustment. The drawstring 5 of Figure l may be similarly' equipped with hooks after the manner described in connection with Figure 10, so as to permit, in the structure of both 0f these igures, the adjustment of both the back and front of the foo-t opening, although either adjustment may be availed of independently of the other.

In Figures l and l0, the adjustment is shown as accomplished at one or both sides of the shoe, but, if desired, it may be accomplished at either the front or back or both. Thus, as shown in Figure il, the drawstring i8 is enclosed within an appropriate binding and extends entirely around the top of the shoe with the free ends of the drawstring exposed at the back of the shoe and in such position that they may be drawn tight to properly adjust the top of the shoe and thereupon tied into a bow knot or otherwise secured in such adjustment.

Figure l2 shows a somewhat modied form of the invention. In this shoe, tapes I9 are sewed to the upper, either on the exterior or interior thereof, in spaced apart relation from one another at either one or both sides of the shoe and these tapes may be brought together and tied in a bow to contract a portion or portions of the p sides of the upper and thus adjust the entire upper opening to the requirements of the wearer. The bows thus produced may be positioned on the exterior of the shoe so as to enter into the design thereof or they may be positioned on the interior to be out of sight when the shoe is Worn.

As hereinbefore stated, the present invention may be associated with shoes of various kinds and in the preceding figures has been shown in conjunction with so-called opera pumps. However, in Figure 13, I have shown the invention as associated with an Oxford. In a shoe of this kind the forward part ofthe foot opening is ordinarily readily adjustable bythe conventional lace at the front of the shoe, but the back of the' shoe not uncommonly fails to properly iit the wearer. The invention may be utilized to overcome this defect by incorporating in the binding 2B thereof a drawstring 2i which extends about the back of the `shoe and `is brought into exposed position through openings 22 at the opposite sides thereof. The ends of this drawstring inay be provided with hooks 23 adapted to be selectively engaged with longitudinally spaced apart eyelets 2i formed in the shoe as shown, in order to obtain the required adjustment.

In the several forms of the invention WhichI have chosen for illustrative purposes various ways for carrying out the invention have been illustrated. I have not, however, attempted to show all the ways in which the invention can be utilized, and the invention is therefore to be understood as fully commensurate with they appended claim.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure byLetters Patent is: Y

The method of binding a shoe upper and lining which comprises: placing the lining within and in face abutting relation with the upper at their upper margins and placing a binding strip in face abuttingrelation with the exterior o-f the upper with the upper edge of said strip, lining and upper substantially coinciding; running asingle line of stitches adjacent the upper edges of and extending through the binding strip, upper and lining to simultaneously secure all of them together; then withdrawing the lining from the upper, then folding the binding strip back upon itself over said line of stitches and over a drawstring loosely laid in the` fold and bringing the free margin of the binding strip into face abutting relation with the withdrawn lining exterior- `ly of the upper, then running a secondline of 

